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As I see the walls to Brexton’s house go up I am immediately reminded of the story of Nehemiah and God’s ability to restore ALL things. If you remember the story, the Jewish people who had survived captivity returned to Jerusalem and were greatly distressed once they saw the walls broken down and the gates burned. They were heavy hearted as they looked around and saw destruction all around them. I can almost feel their anguish as they probably thought, “things will never be the same again.”

So Nehemiah gets permission from the king he is serving to return to Jerusalem and help his people. As Nehemiah looks around to see with his own eyes the destruction it’s like a holy gumption rose up in him and he says to his Jewish brothers, “Come, let us rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.” (Nehemiah 2:17) But when the enemies in the land find out about this idea of rebuilding they laughed and mocked his idea. I absolutely love Nehemiah’s reply, “The God of Heaven Himself will prosper us; therefore we His servants will ARISE and BUILD, but you (enemy) have no heritage or right or memorial in Jerusalem.” (Nehemiah 2:20).

If you are like me and have experienced tragedy and loss in your own life, the story of Nehemiah brings renewed hope and encouragement! It resonates deeply that God is able to restore and redeem things that have been lost, broken or destroyed. Like the Jewish people we might be thinking, “things will never be the same again”…but just because we lost the life we had doesn’t mean we don’t still have a life to live! This story also reminds me that we get to partner with God as He redeems and restores! Nehemiah heard what was going on in Jerusalem and immediately started fasting and praying. Then he went and led the actual rebuilding by encouraging and equipping those who were heavy hearted.

Brexton left this earth at a very young age. Nothing will ever take his place! But in the midst of his early departure from our earthly lives, much like Nehemiah, I have this holy gumption crying out in my spirit, “The God of heaven Himself will continue to prosper us! Therefore, we His servants will ARISE and BUILD, but you enemy have no heritage or right or memorial in our lives!” Throughout Brexton’s 10 years on earth so many hundreds of prayers went up on his behalf. So as these walls of Brexton’s House go up I can almost “see” ALL of those prayers saturating the bricks and strengthening the walls. Prayers lifted up years ago on behalf of a little boy that will now continue to be answered through his legacy in the lives of these Zambian boys.

It is important for us to remember that the enemy has no right, no say, no heritage and no memorial in our lives! He will constantly try to remind us of the tragedies, the losses, the destruction…but we cannot make a memorial to those things! Our job is to believe God and His promises…to fast and pray…to partner with God in restoration…to arise and build! It’s time to stop listening to the lies and mockery of the enemy…it’s time to ARISE and BUILD!